Landscaping at Horizon Center in Oak Ridge to cost $10K

The Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board approved nearly $10,000 for landscaping at Horizon Center and approved a boring/engineer contract to meet one of the standards for the state certified sites program.

The Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board approved nearly $10,000 for landscaping at Horizon Center and approved a boring/engineer contract to meet one of the standards for the state certified sites program.

Board member Hal Osucha said the landscaping project at Horizon is "doing very well." He said the IDB has $25,000 in the budget and asked for approval of $9,600 for payment to Diversified Lawn Services to start work at the east and west ends of the site.

Osucha said the area might need to be bush hogged again in the spring, adding "it should look pretty nice."

"It showed beautifully" when potential prospects visited the site, said Kim Denton, with the Oak Ridge Economic Partnership, which partners with IDB to recruit industrial prospects to the city.

Kathy Barber, also with the Economic Partnership, said ground work had started and Strata-G had been hired to do Phase I for state certification. Strata-G is small business that provides environmental and engineering consulting.

According to state information, certified sites can be marketed as ready for development and communities whose sites are not certified will receive a roadmap to follow to bring their site up to the level of preparedness necessary for many economic development projects.

A potential site has to be a minimum of 20 developable acres; has utilities on site or a formal plan in place; is free of environmental liabilities or has a mitigation plan in hand; has minimized risk factors for development; and is certified for three years by two professional site selection consulting firms.

City Consultant Ray Evans suggested the IDB not spend money for management of the process, stating he sees no reason for another company to "manage on your behalf."

Evans offered to coordinate the boring and testing portion of the project, which will give the IDB a "sense of what's there." He said the tests would not be for construction, which requires more concentrated testing.